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Mill Creek Park employees affected by lake closures moving to other departments
YOUNGSTOWN
As the Mill Creek MetroParks lakes remain closed, employees whose jobs are tied to recreational activities on the lakes can move to work in other departments.
Lakes Newport, Cohasset and Glacier closed July 10 after Mahoning County Board of Health tests found elevated levels of E. coli bacteria in the water.
Tests were conducted after a massive fish kill at the end of June, the cause of which later was determined to be combined storm and sanitary sewer overflows from the city’s system.
Closing the lakes impacts five seasonal employees who work at the boathouses, said Samantha Villella, the park system’s community engagement director. The closure does not affect any full- or part-time staff members, she said.
The park administration is working to find other work opportunities within the system for those five employees.
“If they choose to stay with us, we’re getting them placement in other areas of the park,” Villella said. Two of those workers now are working in the operations department.
“As long as the hours are there ... we are going to get them working, whether that’s in operations or somewhere else,” Villella said.
Before the closure, visitors could rent kayaks and pedal boats at boathouses on West Glacier and West Newport drives. The park also offered passenger-boat rides and a fishing dock on Lake Glacier, as well as a boat launch on Lake Newport.
Kayakers also could explore the wetlands that are part of Lake Newport.
Visitors could fish at those lakes, but were not permitted to do so on Lake Cohasset.
The lakes likely will remain closed for the rest of the summer and possibly longer, Aaron Young, executive director, said at a news conference last week.